End of Spring Break ~ Reeve's Camera

All of these pictures were taken by Reeve.
Some were taken weeks ago...others were taken just recently. Reeve has set his camera to put the date on them. We've enjoyed a great week off from school. The boys are anxious to get back because they both say they've done too many chores this week. I've enjoyed not having to be tied to the school's schedule, not having to drive to drop them off/pick them up, and not having to worry about packing them a lunch. It's so much easier to make something fresh or re-heat leftovers.
Below: Kyle working on a school report on an American Artist. He chose Walt Disney.

 Random picture of Stella.

 Reeve and Kyle both bought themselves a fedora hat. This is Stella modeling Reeve's fedora. He says he feels respected in his hat, and we both agree that he looks a bit like Cary Grant...just because of the cleft in his chin (inherited from my paternal Great Grandmother) and the hat.

 Stella giving Reeve a look...

 I planted some tomatoes and arugala.

 I bought this tea plant at market last Sunday. Tomorrow I will find out the name of it. The tea is similar to an "orange" tasting tea. Behind the tea plant is a front loading washer that we scored from freecycle...we're hoping to convert it to a bicycle powered washer.

 I bought a new pruning saw to help reduce the foliage around the house (it harbors mosquitoes). Reeve went to town on some strawberry guavas (an invasive). We have so many of them that getting rid of a few will still leave us with too many. They are a small seedy guava...the ducks like to eat the fruits. I think Reeve could have cut the trees lower to the ground, but it was a good first attempt.

 The start of our firewood pile...for when we have an outdoor fire in the fire pit, or saving up for a wood fired spa and/or sauna.

 Stella...notice the kiddy pool on top of the subaru...to deter ducks from going up there.

 Reeve made a few sling shots from the strawberry guava he cut down.

 Reeve...a self portrait.

Today the boys helped watch Stella while I was in a 3 hour Monk Seal Response Training. I'm now trained to be able to respond when a monk seal comes ashore. Volunteers are needed to educate the public and protect the public (and vice versa) from one of the world's most endangered species. Also the world's oldest species of seal.

Hapuna Beach Party

Yesterday was the beach birthday party, for the girl I made the bag for. It was a lot of fun at Hapuna Beach, and the girl DID appreciate the messenger bag, and book. Whew!

It takes just over 2 hours (driving Laura slow style) to get to Hapuna Beach from our house. 

 Why have we not been to this beach before now??? We will definitely be back!
(Below) Reeve is the 3rd kid in from the left and Kyle is the 4th...Reeve wore a red t-shirt.

Stella had fun in the "o-sh"...her way of saying ocean...kinda sounds like she's saying "oh shi*". I took her out and we battled small to medium waves. When a big one would come I just held her over my head as I went under.
Below...Reeve is 2nd in from the left and Kyle is 2nd in from the right.

 Below...Reeve catching a wave.

 I didn't catch any  on film, but I did see a couple of humpback whales breaching in the distance!!

 Reeve and Kyle had a great time boogey boarding, playing beach volleyball (for the 1st time!)

 ...and a couple of games of "chaos tag." All the kids on the beach were invited and included in the chaos tag...didn't matter if they didn't know you or you were 2yrs old...everyone played and from my vantage point looked to be having an awesome time.

 The last round of chaos tag was played in the ocean.

 A fun time was had by all. Bonus: We got to listen to Prairie Home Companion for the 2 hour drive back home...gotta love public radio. Double Bonus: We ate chips and salsa for dinner when we got home!

Hammocks, Ducks, and Projects

We are still loving life without bed! Getting rid of the beds has allowed us to have more living space in our 480sq. ft cabin, and an awesome night's rest...every night! 

Above...Reeve hiding from the camera...his weekend sleep in.

Stella is the last one out of the hammock in the morning.

I think we're going to have to clip the flight feathers on these gals. At first it was really funny....

the ducks flew on top of the van to escape the advances of our drake, Jemina (white blob on the right side of the photo below), but now it's just gross!! They crossed the line when they started to land on top of my car! Driving around town with a ton of duck dung and feathers is not very cool. Someone asked me if the kids were making mud pies on the top of my car. Now I put the kiddy pool, upside down, on the top of my car. 

At the 'Ulu Festival I bought a Hawaiian Quilt pattern for a pillow. The pattern is the 'Ulu (Breadfruit) pattern.

 I had some discount fabric pieces that I had bought at the discount fabric store in town. I could spend HOURS DAYS in this store, as the kids will attest. They often have great bargains on Hawaiian prints (small sizes around 1yd or less) for $1.50!! Traditionally Hawaiian quilts are made using a solid color for the print, however I did not have a solid color I wanted to use, so I improvised with the below pattern.

 Hopefully this project won't take me 2 years to finish! I do have "me" time in the morning after Tommy takes the boys to school and Stella is still asleep.

 Above Stella is showing me how she carries one of her stuffed animals on her back. Below is the 'Ulu tree that we purchased from the festival.

 I used an o'o bar to bust up the lava so that the plant could have some drainage and I could dig a hole deep enough to plant it. We had about 4" of soil here before I hit a lava bed.

 My third project of the week was a last minute birthday gift project. On Monday Reeve was invited to a birthday party for this Saturday.

 We decided on making her a messenger bag...inspired by a friend's blog post, and a tutorial blog post I found online. My friend used some khaki pants for the bag material, but, having given away all of unwanted clothes before our move, I had no spare pants.

 Inside there are two small pockets (as seen above). Reeve also wanted to give her one of his books to put in the bag (as shown in the nifty outside pocket).

 I started the project Wednesday...with no sewing machine, and no iron!

If I were to do this again I would definitely use a "jeans" weight material for the outside, or figure out how to use "interfacing" material. I would also use my sewing machine, as this took about 10 hours to sew by hand, and my stitches are not "Laura Ingalls Wilder" great. 

We also took some of the fabric and made a card. A fun project and I'm glad it's done!! A personal world record!

'Ulu Festival near Kapoho

'Ulu is the Hawaiian name for Breadfruit. We love it! We've only eaten it a couple of times, but each time has been savory and delicious. Choke Ono.
You want to use it when it starts to ooze white sticky juice, just turning yellow, and slightly soft. I like to use it before it gets too soft.

I cut off the top, then I slice it in half.

 I cut out the core and then slice off the outer skin.

 This night I was making 'ulu fries...a new favorite! You can see from the picture below that I didn't exactly cut all of the core out. It was okay, but next time I'll do a better job of cutting the woody core out.

First I parboiled the 'ulu for 20 minutes, then I tossed it in a bowl with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Next I baked it in the oven at 375F for 30 minutes.
Sorry no finished pictures...they were gone too fast!
The taste is very similar to a garden fresh yukon gold potato, but even that description doesn't do it justice. 
Yesterday we escaped the downpour of rain at our house and headed to Kapoho...where it's normally always nice weather.

This is only one of several major "lakes" we have to cross just to get out of our subdivision. The trick is to go slooooooowwwww and hope the water doesn't kick up any rocks to take out your oil pan or worse. Our shocks get a good workout.
We met up with our good friends and enjoyed walking around the festival. We bought an 'ulu tree...dwarf variety...the non-dwarf variety can grow to be over 60' tall!
There were lots of educational demonstrations...like this one...he's pounding 'ulu for poi.

So is this guy...

There was an 'ulu buffet. We had fresh salad with baked 'ulu, a 'ulu stew, a 'ulu stir fry with yummy fiddle head ferns, some taro chips with 'ulu salsa, 'ulu poi...3 finger poi as it was a little watery, and 'ulu macaroni. It was a great deal and a great meal! There were also 'ulu pops at the festival, but we were so full from the buffet that we did not try the pops. They were made with lilikoi (passionfruit) juice.

Stella and I practiced some Hawaiian hand quilting...very fun...I think I might have found a new obsession. I haven't been to crafty here lately. My latest project has been a cross-stitch I've been working on for 2yrs! My goal is to have that one done and completed before the end of the month and to not start anything new until I get it done.

A brief shower while we were watching/listening to some local musicians.

We love our fresh coconut juice!
The boy in the center of this picture is sitting on a stool that has a wooden point. He's using that point to grind out the coconut meat.

 Machete fresh coconut!

 We all love it, especially Stella!

Afterward we headed back to our car and a swim in the ocean.

Stella and I pretended we were mermaids and we searched for dolphins to ride.

Tommy took his board out for a little surfing.

Stella did not want to get out of the water. We had to carry her out kicking and screaming.

 This is the Pohoiki Boat ramp I have mentioned before. A nice mix of really warm water and cool fresh ocean water.